**SOAP BOX** on copyright, through another photographer's eyes

**SOAP BOX**

Remember that photograph of a dad acting as newborn beanbag? Cute, right? I myself even re-posted it after it was posted twice on my wall. Then I found the photographer who took the photo. She was super-upset that someone had taken her photo off her website, defaced it and spread it around. I contacted her about it, and here is her response.

"right now, i am hoping that most people will take down the photo. what i'm also hoping is that people learn a little bit about copyright law, and that even though it seems ok and normal to go to a google image search, pull a photo, and re-post it online, that it is actually illegal and against all copyright law, and has SERIOUS serious consequences- to the tune of 150,000.00. that all those photos you see online are only legally posted by the author, the copyright holder, and that each one of those images actually represents a real human being. we know that there is always a possibility of an image getting stolen, but as photographers we HAVE to be able to post online for our businesses to survive. so when something like this happens, we have to band together and say it's not right."

Out of respect for her (and as a fellow photographer) I've taken the photo down to stop it circulating any more from me. But she does bring up some serious issues.

Copyright is serious. We frequently laugh it off, but it is a big deal. Music, videos, photos, writing... it's all a part of it.

Whatever you post online is out there. Like, forever. You can try to take it down and stop it from circulating, but once it's out there the damage has been done. I have an album from a family session I did a few months ago that I'd absolutely love to share. However, the youngest was adopted, and the parents have asked to keep their child off social media (it also has something to do with adoption rules, not just their preference). So, unless you go into their house, you'll probably never see them playing in the leaves with their newest child.

Another blogger wrote this great post awhile ago. It's all about copyright and getting caught, even though she didn't mean to break any rules. You can read it here.

                                                                                                        Photo by Dave.

As a photographer, I'll admit I'm in fear of people ripping me off. My clients have all been super-gracious and have posted photos as I have asked. However, like I said before, once something is out there, it's always out there. Just because it says copyright doesn't mean everyone will respect it. Or they even know what it means. Sometimes it's an accident, sometimes it's intentional. And sites like Pintrest (as much as I love it) opens up a whole new can of worms.

Anyways, it's given me something to think about. As a photographer and social media user.

love, Steph